The PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund have dropped the non-solicitation clause from their framework agreement, according to the The New York Times. One of the few binding provisions in the agreement, the non-solicitation clause stated neither the PGA Tour, DP World Tour nor LIV Golf would solicit or recruit players from opposing tours.
Per the report, people close to the situation claim the removal of the clause was due to antitrust pressure applied by the Justice Department as it tightened the labor market and suppressed competition for players. This provision was in place to stop the flow of players between the three tours — mainly an outward flow to LIV Golf — as the PGA Tour and PIF negotiate the terms of their deal to house commercial operations under new for-profit entity named PGA Tour Enterprises.
Legal stress continues to engulf the landmark agreement between the PGA Tour and PIF. On Tuesday, PGA Tour chief operating officer Ron Price and policy board member Jimmy Dunne testified at a U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing on “The PGA-LIV Deal: Implications for the Future of Golf and Saudi Arabia’s Influence in the United States.”
“My fear is if we don’t get to an agreement, they [PIF] were already putting billions of dollars into golf,” Dunne said at the Senate hearing. “They have a management team wanting to destroy the tour. Even though you can say take five or six players a year, they have an unlimited horizon and an unlimited amount of money.”
Definitive Agreements 6B under Settlement of Disputes; Non-Solicitation stated:
From the date of Agreement, subject to Paragraph 10 hereof, PIF, PGA TOUR, DP World Tour each agrees that it will now, and will cause its affiliates (including LIV, but not including for these purposes the Asian Tour or the MENA Tour to the extent PIF does not control these entities) and other representatives on its behalf not to, directly or indirectly, enter into any contract, agreement or understanding with, solicit, or recruit any players who are members of the other’s tour or organization to become members of their respective organizations or any other golf league or to participate in golf events hosted by any other golf league, or to terminate their membership with LIV, the PGA TOUR or the DP World Tour, as applicable.
Players like Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson all reportedly garnered deals in the nine-figure range to transition from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf.